This report is being placed in "Other Investing" because the changes being described will have potentially serious impact on many aspects of the American economy.
Following are excerpts from a current report in The Washington Post:
The agency announced Wednesday that it will begin the process of dismantling dozens of rules for electric vehicles, power plants, clean water and more.

In a flurry of news releases, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency will roll back some of President Joe Biden’s most consequential climate and environmental regulations. He specifically cited rules aimed at speeding the nation’s shift to electric vehicles, slashing planet-warming emissions from power plants and safeguarding waterways from harmful pollution.
Taken together, the announcements herald a seismic shift in U.S. environmental policy, one that could ease restrictions on nearly every sector of the economy. Yet rewriting many of the rules could take the agency months or even years.
“Today is the most consequential day of deregulation in American history,” Zeldin wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. “We are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age.”
Zeldin confirmed in the piece that the Trump administration will repeal a scientific finding underpinning much of the federal government’s push to combat climate change. The Washington Post first reported last month that the administration will target the “endangerment finding,” which cleared the way for regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act by concluding that the planet-warming gases pose a threat to public health and welfare.
Environmentalists criticized the EPA’s actions Wednesday: “Corporate polluters are celebrating today because Trump’s EPA just handed them a free pass to spew unlimited climate pollution, consequences be damned,” Charles Harper, the power sector senior policy lead at the climate advocacy group Evergreen Action, said in a statement.
Business groups cheered the moves, with coal advocates specifically praising the reconsideration of the power plant rules, which would have pushed all coal plants by 2039 to either capture their carbon dioxide emissions or shut down.
“The standard is so extreme that it’s virtually impossible to comply with,” Ernie Thrasher, CEO of the coal supplier XCoal Energy and Resources, said in an interview. “It’s the consumers who have been strangled with regulation.”

Note: Text emphasis was added to the above report.

Costco eggs yesterday: $14+ per dozen.

I knew egg prices were high but this is crazy!
I wasn't aware eggs became this expensive since I usually have cereal for breakfast.

Observant, the following is not directed at you. its simply an observation re the Great Egg Hysteria of 2025 gneerally....
3/11 stopped at my local Kroger this afternoon. Decided to see what the big fuss about "omigod egg prices are sooo high.." Bought 1 dozen large eggs for $4.39. That wasn't a special promotion, no coupon was used. Its simply the price staring me in the face on my store receipt.
If the merchant you patronize is price-gouging eggs, maybe do some comparison shopping? Most major cities have ethnic grocery stores (Latin, Asian). Generally ethnic grocers charge a lot less for unpackaged foods than do their American counterparts. I would think that a trip to one's local grocer might be worth it to those who are stressing about their eggs. Maybe its time to tear up the Costco membership, avoid Whole Foods, and visit the local Asian grocer? Maybe avoid the $6 coffees at Starbucks too? Costco in particular, generates a lot of (well-deserved) consumer loyalty.. perhaps they are trying to exploit that where customers will just shrug their shoulders and not blink at the prices for eggs, given all the 'static' about egg prices?

Eddie, I am concerned with your eyesight. Today, 1 dozen Kroger brand large eggs are $5.49 at the Kroger on Mockingbird Ln off of 75.

Bloomberg News has a succinct summary of the disaster unfolding at the NIH and Biomedical Research around the country.
"The Trump administration’s attacks on science and funding at the National Institutes of Health will set research and training for future scientists back a generation.
This might sound melodramatic to anyone not intimately familiar with the world of academic training and research. But in just two months the administration has cut off opportunities at every phase in a scientist’s career. Unless funding and the freedom to pursue science without political bias are restored, biomedical research in the US will become less ambitious, less competitive and result in fewer breakthroughs.
To recap: In his first days in office, President Donald Trump targeted the NIH, which spends more than 80% of its $48 billion budget on grants and other funding to universities and hospitals around the country. That funding ground to a halt, and damage was amplified two weeks later when the administration excised $4 billion in overhead costs from NIH grants — money that institutions rely on to run their facilities and pay support staff. That was followed by job cuts at the agency — reportedly nearly 1,200 of them, in areas spanning Alzheimer’s research to cancer. (Some of these moves have been halted, at least temporarily, by the courts.)
More recently, scores of NIH grants were terminated because they didn’t align with the administration’s political ideology. Flagged topics include research on LGBT+ health, gender identity, diversity, equity and inclusion; vaccine hesitancy; and mRNA vaccines. Now, Trump seems to be using the NIH to punish universities that he feels have defied him. On Monday, the agency said it was terminating $250 million in grants to Columbia University, a move that will have a seismic impact on study and researchers there.
Summer research programs at NIH and in university labs — experiences that help pull undergraduates into science careers — have been canceled. Graduate school admissions are being paused or cut back. Widespread hiring freezes are leaving postdoctoral researchers, on the cusp of launching their careers, in limbo.
Assistant professors awaiting the NIH’s final approval on their first major grant, known as an R01, a critical step toward securing tenure, are worried their once promising careers are being snuffed out. Even well-established scientists tell me they’ve made lists of people in their labs to cut if the money doesn’t flow soon. I’m told some in the twilight of their careers are cutting back hours to preserve funding or are considering retirement.
The entire pipeline of biomedical scientists, supported in one way or the other by the funding at NIH, is being culled.
Unsurprisingly, morale — both at NIH and at the long list of institutions the agency funds — is in the basement. One researcher at a prominent New York-based cancer hospital told me he hasn’t been sleeping. A health equity researcher at Northwestern University, whose work hits on all of the buzzwords that Trump wants eradicated from federal government, teared up when describing what the situation means for the students she mentors. Making a career in science has always been exceptionally hard, she says, “and in this environment, it’s just making it impossible. I’m afraid we’re going to lose some of the best minds.” (Many researchers asked not to be named out of fear about the status of funding under review at NIH.)
Ashley de Marchena, an autism expert at Drexel University, said the funding uncertainty led one of her trainees to look for a job rather than pursue a doctoral degree. Not only is the time and taxpayer investment in building their research skills lost, but the student, who is neurodivergent, is someone whose unique perspective should be nurtured, not pushed into another career path.
“So many entry points [to research] are gone now,” says Julianne Meisner, an epidemiologist in the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health. She recently advised a student finishing her master’s degree to consider applying to PhD programs abroad. They might offer less money, but they bring more certainty. And those institutes clearly see an opportunity to siphon some of America’s brightest: at least one French university is advertising itself to US students as a “safe place for science.”
Meanwhile, those who persist are shrinking their ambitions to fit a more hostile environment. A theme I heard over and over again is that researchers will do less bold science, ask fewer questions, make fewer discoveries.
There’s little sign that the damage will be repaired once new leadership is in place at NIH. During his Senate confirmation hearing last week, Jay Bhattacharya, Trump’s pick to lead the agency, seemed unruffled by the turmoil. If anything, his equivocation about the upheaval suggests he’s on board with whatever changes those above him demand next.
Bhattacharya dodged questions about restoring funding and instead emphasized the need to restore trust in public health, a project he believes requires “freedom” and “transparency.”
It's hard to imagine a less trustworthy or transparent process, or one less attuned to academic freedom than what’s unfolding. Sidelining and muzzling a generation of scientists, dismantling the nation’s research apparatus and ultimately ceding scientific supremacy to China and Europe does not seem like the right way to restore trust.
For the public, all of this might seem hard to grasp — or even care about. But eventually we will all be affected. It’ll show up as the hit to the local economy when scientists and staff lose their jobs. It’ll take the form of a widening gap in access to equitable health care. It’ll be the Alzheimer’s treatment or cancer vaccine that never quite makes it over the finish line."
Oh BTW Bhattacharya recieved an MD degree but has never practiced medicine ( not even an internship ), has never seen a patient independently and has never done any biological research. He is a health economist. Great choice to lead the world's most formidable biomedical research institution. All because he co-authored "The Great Barrington Declaration"
Not mentioned above, almost 100 senior level NIH investigators have had their salaries suspended and their lab budgets frozen and government credit cards canceled. These are people specifically recruited to the NIH to run cutting edge research, done no where else in the world. There are 16,000 grant proposals waiting for study sections that have been canceled and legally mandatory notice in the Federal Register that has been shut down.
Student internships for thousands of the brightest STEM college kids to work in labs all around the country this summer have been cancelled.
This will have a generational, decades and decades negative impact on the US as a Research mecca and biotech innovator. For what? The Chinese are ecstatic.
Far more significant than the shutdown of the NOAA .

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/831114/000139834425005432/fp0092527-7_497.htm
Trading at $1,101.08 as of the close of 3/11.

JEQ jumped about 9.5% this morning following an earlier 4% gain. Sold all. Replaced it in the CEF collection with FOF which I’ve been watching.
Have buy orders in for LPXAX & CPLSX. I’d rather increase investment in those less aggressive areas than rebalance out of my leaders. Cash now at 11% - down from 12.5% a week ago.
(S&C C&S now has a bit over 38% of my money.)

New people enter the market for the first time every day. Let me randomly pick Feb 19.
Mr. X bought SPY on February 19 at the close for $612.93 per share. Today, SPY closed at $555.92. So, Mr. X lost 9.3% on his February 19 purchase. Feel free to do the math for the other indices from their Feb 19 levels.
The levels of stock market does not bother me but I know it is not irrational to feel bothered.
Evidently, one of the bond fund traders in this forum has gone to 100% cash (or MM).

Eggs are not "eggs". They come in many grades and varieties. One store that we visit each week has at least six different types of eggs, varying on size, color, and feeding/living conditions of the laying chickens. The prices range from approximately $5 to $12 per dozen. This particular store happens to be in a Northern California agricultural area which has been an egg and chicken producing center for at least 100 years, so the store has local access to many types of available eggs..

You're making me hungry. :) :) :)
Sounds like Andy's Produce near Sebastapol, among other fine stores in Sonoma. Of course Petaluma was known as the Egg Capital of the World back in the day.

Just looking at the big indexes (not necessarily representative of the broader market) they really haven’t fallen that much yet …
DJI -2.61% YTD (after today)
S&P 500 -5.26% YTD (after today)
The high flying NASDAQ is off about 10% YTD. The Russell 2000 looks perhaps inviting, down -9.26% YTD
Despite all the political fervor / outrage (which I agree with), the markets are coming off a couple strong years. I’m eager to put more cash to work - but not yet. Sometimes you get paid to wait.
If anyone hasn’t noticed, consumers staples have turned up in recent months. Could be due to a long period of undervaluation. But could also be a sign of coming recession during which staples usually hold up better.
If the 10-year rate keeps falling, mortgage rates might become briefly attractive again. Something to keep an eye on.

Just paint it Orange.

Eggs are not "eggs". They come in many grades and varieties. One store that we visit each week has at least six different types of eggs, varying on size, color, and feeding/living conditions of the laying chickens. The prices range from approximately $5 to $12 per dozen. This particular store happens to be in a Northern California agricultural area which has been an egg and chicken producing center for at least 100 years, so the store has local access to many types of available eggs.
This could not be replicated by large grocery chains, Costco or otherwise, who need huge quantities of eggs and are therefore limited as to sources able to provide that large supply. So it's no surprise that individual smaller stores might have access to small local producers, with significant price differences because of that. Perhaps the local Kroger store has access to some local producers also. Some chains allow individual stores to purchase locally, others do not.

Costco eggs yesterday: $14+ per dozen.

I knew egg prices were high but this is crazy!
I wasn't aware eggs became this expensive since I usually have cereal for breakfast.

Observant, the following is not directed at you. its simply an observation re the Great Egg Hysteria of 2025 gneerally....
3/11 stopped at my local Kroger this afternoon. Decided to see what the big fuss about "omigod egg prices are sooo high.." Bought 1 dozen large eggs for $4.39. That wasn't a special promotion, no coupon was used. Its simply the price staring me in the face on my store receipt.
If the merchant you patronize is price-gouging eggs, maybe do some comparison shopping? Most major cities have ethnic grocery stores (Latin, Asian). Generally ethnic grocers charge a lot less for unpackaged foods than do their American counterparts. I would think that a trip to one's local grocer might be worth it to those who are stressing about their eggs. Maybe its time to tear up the Costco membership, avoid Whole Foods, and visit the local Asian grocer? Maybe avoid the $6 coffees at Starbucks too? Costco in particular, generates a lot of (well-deserved) consumer loyalty.. perhaps they are trying to exploit that where customers will just shrug their shoulders and not blink at the prices for eggs, given all the 'static' about egg prices?

@WABAC, later today, you can try YouTube with a search "CNBC and Peter Navarro" or something similar and see if you can find. During earnings season, I try to watch CNBC Closing Bell Overtime (4-5PM EST). He was interviewed during that episode.
I like yesterday's price action in the market better than today's, even though my portfolio lost a lot less today. My worst performer today is MRFOX -1.67%, while holding 26% in cash. MOAT returned -1.9% but it is 100% invested. CGBL did better than I expected at -0.26%

@WABAC,
The cat is out of the bag.
Peter Navarro is on TV right now. He said "Tariffs equal to Tax cuts." If any one was waiting for it to be spelled out, now they have it.

I haven't watched network news since Network came out. And after 25 years around marine radio traffic I stopped listening to anything but music on the radio.
What did Navarro have to say? I'm not finding anything in print yet.

A lot is riding on this. Many people don't' invest in China BECAUSE they don't trust their numbers or laws. Our reserve currency is just that BECAUSE other countries trust our numbers and laws. If that trust erodes then others will push for a new reserve currency. If that happens then our debt will be a major major problem. A long ways off IMHO but why would we push other countries to not trust us is beyond me.

Our reserve currency status occured because of historical events (principally, Europe blowing itself up. Twice), and initially, we were the world's largest creditor nation. We are now the nation's largest debtor. So there has been a qualitative change downward. A big drop happened when Nixon closed the gold window. 6 decades of fiscal profligacy has made us a joke. Then, in 2022 President JILL Biden confiscated Russia's US treasurys -- weaponizing the USD. The world took notice.
If you were worried that your bank would confiscate your CD, you wouldn't do business with that bank. Same applies to govts worldwide.

OK, here's the latest on this from The Guardian:
Ontario suspends electricity surcharge after US commerce secretary agrees to talks

Ontario will suspend its 25% surcharge on exports of electricity to three US states after top American trade officials agreed to negotiate with the Canadian province in Washington DC later this week.
The end of the surcharge, which prompted Donald Trump to double his administration’s tariffs on Canadian metal imports and threaten even harsher measures, was announced in a joint statement from Ontario premier Doug Ford, and US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. Ford imposed the tax last week, in retaliation for 25% tariffs Trump levied on Canadian goods, which the White House later relaxed.
Here is the statement, in full:
Today, United States Secretary of Commerce @howardlutnick and Premier of Ontario Doug Ford had a productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada.
Secretary Lutnick agreed to officially meet with Premier Ford in Washington on Thursday, March 13 alongside the United States Trade Representative to discuss a renewed USMCA ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline. In response, Ontario agreed to suspend its 25 per cent surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota.

har, shadowstats is laughable
https://www.reddit.com/r/badeconomics/comments/3zik5t/shadowstatscom/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowstats.com
'By 2021, the cumulative estimates of ShadowStats imply an average annual inflation rate of 9% for a cumulative increase in prices of over 600% since 2000. In a phone interview with Timothy B. Lee asked "John Williams" three different times for a particular good or service whose price increased 6-fold over that time. Williams could not recall any saying, "I can't give you a real hard example."'
bwahaha
I won't even track down krugman's historical demolitions.

Latest from Bloomberg 3:00 PM:
President Donald Trump said he was reevaluating plans to double steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada to 50% after Ontario announced it would suspend a 25% surcharge on electricity sent to the US.
"I'm looking at that, but probably so," Trump told reporters Tuesday when asked if the deescalation would lead him to back down on his tariff threat. "I'll let you know about it."
Hey guys. What do you think about possibly creating a separate “Trump” board here similar to the OT or Technical Question boards? I mean well over half of all threads now running deal with Trump in some way. There has to be more to funds and investing than this ……
In OT he leads with about 90% of all threads. But even in the investing area he’s dominating with better than 50%. When is enough enough?
Another idea would be to start a single “TRUMP” thread where his assorted decrees, threats, wiggles, etc. could be consolidated so he wouldn’t occupy so much space. I personally don’t think he deserves so much attention.He is not the entire U.S. and global economy - but merely craves that kind of attention.. And how many of these loud tariff threats has he actually followed through on?
How about a weekly “Trumpster Dumpster” thread to cover all Trump all the time?

Wall Street Fears Trump Will Wreck the Soft Landing
https://www.wsj.com/economy/trump-team-recession-hard-landing-c8f23d5d?st=GM8Dkw&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Even before this latest barrage, all the Canadians I know have canceled as many economic transactions with the US as they can.
Friends here on the Cape say their Canadian relatives have told them they will NEVER come to "Your A***ole Country again". Summer bookings here are down 10 to 15% as many Canadians have already canceled.
About 35% of Massachusetts voted for him but with the rise in electric rates, vacations canceled and layoffs at the VA, even the areas where you expect people to vote GOP people are becoming very angry.
The Vets in particular say he has stabbed them in the back with VA cuts

He's blaming Ford's move on electricity rates, but it seems to me it's past time that we begin to take him at his word when he says he wants to make Canada the 51st state.